


Suits

by capt_ann



Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: M/M, Pre-Inception, Suits, obviously but
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:55:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23215108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/capt_ann/pseuds/capt_ann
Summary: "The day that I go out with you, Mr. Eames, is the day you dress properly."---A short and sweet story because quarantine gave me a newfound inspiration to write.
Relationships: Arthur/Eames (Inception)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 101





	Suits

**Author's Note:**

> “You know, I gotta say when I first started working on Inception, some of the drawings they showed me of their ideas for that character was, uh, sort of schlubby, sort of like, well, he’s the tech guy, he runs the machines, you know, so maybe he should be wearing some sneakers and a plaid shirt et cetera and I was like ‘No, no, no.’
> 
> This guy is in charge of making sure everything goes right. The Cobb character that Leonardo DiCaprio played, he’s like the artist and this guy’s like the producer. So, uh, I thought of my friend Jared, who is a theatre producer by day and he’s a very spiffy dresser.
> 
> And I was like, 'No, I want tailored suits and I want to slick back my hair, I want this guy to seem like he’s meticulous, like he pays very close attention to detail.’”
> 
> \- Joseph Gordon-Levitt
> 
> so naturally, I had to write.

See the thing about how Arthur used to dress, well . . . he wouldn’t admit to it, but you would have to blame it on all the movies he watched as a child. From what dear little Arthur had gathered, the smart ones behind the computers and details would always dress up in “nerdy” outfits, like sneakers and plaids. And at first, the young boy silently agreed to that. He, himself, was a very smart boy, all the grown ups had said so, so it only made sense that he would dress like that when he grew up, right?

As it turned out, grown up Arthur was definitely not into dressing schlubby. He supposes he had his Uncle Jared to thank for knocking some sense into him.

_“Suits, my dear boy, is where it’s at.”_ His uncle had told him during Thanksgiving one night. Arthur always liked the way his father’s brother had spoken, like one of the smartest people Arthur would meet. _“If you can spare some time and get them tailored, you better not let it waste away. It’s one of the smartest investments a man can make.”_

And of course, Arthur wanted to at least seem as smart as his uncle. You see, Arthur _was_ smart, and very much so. He could have easily become a lawyer, or even a doctor, and he thought that he would show that through the way he dressed. It’s not as though he dressed formally all the time, he knew when to let loose, he just didn’t think that dressing up sloppy when having a meeting was wise. Meetings to discuss how to steal ideas from people were still meetings.

Not everyone felt that way, as it turned out, and that was alright. But Arthur didn’t think he’d seen Eames dress up nicely even once. There was a time when the man had walked in wearing pyjamas. That day, Arthur ignored him completely, much to the dismay of the other man.

After the first couple of jobs, Arthur had gotten used to Eames’s lack of care of the way he came in for discussions, enough so that Eames took the absence of his balant disapproval as an okay for Eames to flirt with him everyday. In fact, he’d asked Arthur out once, already. In his defense, Arthur hadn’t realised that Eames was being serious, as it was the early stages of Eames’s flirting, and Arthur assumed he was flirting with everyone.

However, as stated so many times already, our Darling Arthur was smart, and it only took a handful of jobs to see that the way Eames flirted with other people varied from the way he flirted with Arthur. He flirted with Arthur a bit more carefully, as though he didn’t want to say anything that would take things too far, but also just enough to show that he was being serious about it.

Exchanges between them, though, always had a heavy blanket of banter, and that’s why Arthur had to tell himself to not eagerly jump into Eames’s arms the next time he asked Arthur out, -which he would. Arthur was sure that Eames would ask him out at least one more time, now that Arthur replied with more smiles when Eames made comments about the point man.

  
  
  
  


From the day Arthur decided to say yes, he sometimes paid close attention to whatever he did, just so he could have an idea of what would send the man off into asking again. Knowing that would give Arthur an advantage into knowing what it was about him that Eames liked so much.

However, the day that it did happen, Arthur had no idea what he’d done differently. He was pretty sure it was just another day of the team coming together to discuss the plans before setting it on stone.

Eames was dressed in a tee that fit him snuggly around his chest, and while Arthur could agree to that, the man’s choice of sweatpants made Arthur want to turn around and head back to the hotel. Were sweatpants even supposed to be that loose?

“I think that about covers it,” Their extractor, Julia, states, stepping away from the whiteboard. “Any questions?” Seeing that there were none, she headed back to her desk. “Alright, good to hear that. We can come back tomorrow and go through a run before the appointment, which, if I need to remind anyone, is in two days.”

It was a fairly simple job, so Arthur wasn’t very worried. The only reason they’d been taking this more seriously, enough to run tests, was the fact that their mark was militarised. Even then, Arthur liked the team, knew how competent everyone was, so there wasn’t much to fret about.

Arthur was usually the last to leave after a team meeting, just to run another clean up check, and to gather up his own things, because one can never be too careful in the dream share business. Since Eames was forging in this job, Arthur was fairly surprised when it was just the two of them.

“I did have one question, actually.” The forger says, walking up to Arthur.

Arthur frowned at that. “Julia’s gone- actually, never mind, I’m the point man, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, given that this goes the way I planned.” Eames shrugs, leaning against Arthur’s chair as he gathers his files. “I was just wondering if maybe you would go on a date with me.” 

That statement makes Arthur pause. It wasn’t that he was always thinking to himself, _“Maybe this is the day he asks,”_ , it’s just that if Arthur truly had to predict a day when he thought Eames would, he wouldn’t have picked today.

Instead of expressing his surprise, or even his willingness, he just glances down at Eames’s sweatpants and finds himself replying with a, "The day that I go out with you, Mr. Eames, is the day you dress properly." and then turning around and walking out of the building.

It's when he opens the door that he hopes that he hasn't screwed their relationship up. He's nearly tempted to call Eames and tell him he wants to go on a date, just in case Eames took that as a firm no and an indication to stop flirting with him. 

After looking at the time, Arthur decides he'll deal with it tomorrow. Maybe he'll even use one of Eames's corny lines on the man himself.

  
  
  
  


The next day, Arthur goes over all the cheesy overused pick up lines that Eames has used on him over the month's as he dresses in his hotel room. He opts for a navy button down and a tie with dots, with a tan waistcoat and jacket over it. Trousers to match with the jacket, of course.

He’s still thinking the lines over when everyone starts to walk into the building. Arthur’s usually the first one in, followed by the extractor, and then Eames. But for some reason, Eames hadn’t walked in after the extractor. In fact, everyone filtered in apart from the forger, and the point man started to get anxious. 

When Eames finally does walk in and greet everyone with a “Good afternoon,” accompanied by a big smile, Arthur loses his train of thought. Because he didn’t walk in wearing another tee, or some absurd pair of bottoms. No, he was wearing an actual suit. A black suit complete with a bow tie, and he had even slicked back his hair.

Their chemist, Mabel, lets out a long whistle. “Damn, Eames. Hot date tonight?” 

“Hopefully,” Eames winks at her as he walks towards Arthur. “What do you say, Arthur?”

Arthur metaphorically picks his jaw up and composes himself enough to formulate a reply. “I didn’t think you’d actually do it.”

“Well, a deal is a deal, isn't it, darling?” Eames grins, leaning his hip against Arthur’s desk.

That it was. And Arthur couldn’t express his gratitude to himself for what he’d said last night, -not in front of everyone, anyway-, especially since Eames had actually taken it upon himself to dress up the very next day.

  
  
  
  


By the time their team had finalised everything, it had turned to six o’clock, and Arthur was nearly vibrating with energy. On the inside, at least. He knew that he wasn’t being very subtle at staring at Eames given with how many winks he caught Eames sending his way. 

The thing he was dreading about their meeting ending was the fact that he would have to clean up before heading to Eames and planning about what they should do. 

Thankfully, Eames took care of that when he stood in front of Arthur and said, “I've already made dinner reservations, love, let's go. Can't let my suit go to waste. I'm sure Julia can clean up today, hmm?" 

Yeah, Arthur would definitely express his gratefulness later tonight. Judging by the look Eames gave him when he saw Arthur lick his lips when he took off his jacket earlier (who gave Eames the right to wear a button down so well), he knew it too.

“By the way,” Arthur starts as the two walk out of the building. “the bow tie was made a bit too big.”

**Author's Note:**

> I just made an Arthur/Eames tumblr called @thisarthurandeames , so give that a follow if you'd like, thanks!


End file.
